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"Enforcement alone is not the solution. … We can build fences, but people will come around them."
Sen. Edward Kennedy
D-Mass.
"We can make a big dent in getting control of our borders."
Sen. Jon Kyl
R-Ariz.

Washington

Scorecard on Congress before its election break

Senate approves 700-mile-fence bill

Border measure now goes to Bush for his signature
Wire reports
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 09.30.2006
WASHINGTON — The Senate on Friday voted to build 700 miles of fencing along the U.S.-Mexican border, sending the bill to President Bush, who has said he will sign it.
No one has exact figures on how much it will cost, but a separate bill also on the way to the White House makes a $1.2 billion down payment on it. A 14-mile segment of fence under construction in San Diego is costing $126.5 million.
The fence bill was passed by the House two weeks ago. The Senate vote on it Friday night was 80-19.
In addition to money for starting work on the fence, a Homeland Security bill Congress was completing Friday includes $380 million to hire 1,500 more Border Patrol agents and money to build detention facilities to hold 6,700 more illegal immigrants until they can be deported.
But other enforcement measures pushed by GOP House leaders appeared to be going nowhere as Congress prepared to adjourn this weekend to allow members to campaign for re-election.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn, said that the fence was one step in a broader immigration strategy and that it would safeguard the nation. Most immigrants come to the United States with good intentions, but not all, he added.
Senate Democrats said a border fence would cost up to $9 billion and not solve the nation's immigration problem because more than half of illegal immigrants arrive in the United States legally and overstay their visas.
Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., who sponsored a broader immigration bill, said that fences will not keep criminals and terrorists out and that the hijackers who perpetrated the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks did not cross the Mexican border but came to the United States with legal visas.
"Enforcement alone is not the solution. … We can build fences, but people will come around them," he said.
In addition, he said that Republicans are using "hardworking immigrants as political pawns for this year's election."
But Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., said building a fence is a major step toward solving the problem of illegal immigration.
The barriers would not only curtail unlawful entries but also keep dangerous criminals away, including murderers, kidnappers and other violent offenders, he said.
"We can make a big dent in getting control of our borders," Kyl added.
Supporters also said that a fence near San Diego has reduced illegal apprehensions there by 80 percent and cut crime in San Diego County by 56 percent.
The House passed measures earlier this month that would authorize state and local police to enforce immigration law, and make it easier to deport immigrant gang members and detain illegal immigrants, sometimes indefinitely.
Efforts by House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., to include the measures in spending bills for defense and homeland security were rebuffed by key Republican senators, including Sen. John Warner, R-Va., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Immigrant advocates and Hispanic groups said they were pleased the House enforcement bills were not taken up by the Senate, but criticized lawmakers for passing the fence bill instead of a broader overhaul of the nation's immigration laws.
Kevin Appleby, director of migration and refugee policy at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said a fence will force more immigrants into the hands of "unscrupulous smugglers" and into more remote and dangerous areas. "This is a moral issue. It will lead to more migrant deaths," he said.
On StarNet: For additional information on border issues, visit azstarnet.com/ border
● Congress tried to wrap up its work Friday to leave for five weeks of campaigning before the midterm elections.
Late actions:
l Congress sent President Bush a bill allowing military commissions to prosecute terrorism suspects with legislation that also spells out violations of the Geneva Conventions.
l The Senate sent Bush a $448 billion defense spending bill that includes $70 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
l Congress worked toward finishing a nearly $35 billion Homeland Security spending bill, which included an overhaul of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and $1.2 billion for increased border fencing to discourage illegal immigration.
l The Senate prepared to vote on a bill prohibiting anyone but a parent from taking a girl across state lines to obtain an abortion.
l The Senate authorized a $1.5 billion program to create new national heritage areas and tourism projects.
l A bill to make 361 seaports safer from biological, chemical or nuclear attacks neared final votes in the House and Senate. Democrats complained it shorted security for railroads and mass transit. Republicans added a measure to restrict Internet gambling.
l The House passed a bill giving landowners easier access to federal courts to challenge environmental and safety regulations affecting the value of their property. It stands little chance of passing in the Senate
l The Senate sent to President Bush a bill to build 700 miles of new fencing along the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border. The House passed this bill two weeks ago.
What Congress didn't do:
l The House and Senate could not reconcile their differences over legislation allowing the warrantless wiretapping of terrorism suspects in time to deliver a bill before the election. The White House may get the authorization in a post-election session.
l Spending bills for annually funded government programs other than defense and security remained unfinished, delaying planned spending increases for veterans' health care.
l Congress did not renew a host of tax breaks that expired at the end of 2005, including deductions for tuition, teachers' classroom expenses and state and local sales taxes, as well as a research-and-development credit for businesses.
l The House and Senate could not resolve their differences over comprehensive immigration and border-security bills passed in each chamber.
l Efforts to merge different House and Senate bills expanding offshore drilling failed.
l The House and Senate responded to lobbying scandals by passing ethics bills, but they couldn't reconcile their differences and send an overall measure to the White House for signing.
l New York and New Jersey senators blocked Senate action authorizing $2.1 billion for victims of HIV/AIDS because it would shift aid from urban to rural areas. The House passed it Thursday night.
The Associated Press
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